Michael Beasley Admits Ignoring Pat Riley’s Advice May Have Been His Biggest Career Mistake
Sep 2, 2025
Michael Beasley is a true NBA “what if”. After a dominant college career, he entered the NBA with sky-high expectations. However, largely due to off-the-court concerns, Beasley never reached his full potential.
Beasley only ended up playing six seasons in the NBA, despite being the number two overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. He played in only one season with more than 56 games and never even averaged more than 25 minutes per game.
That doesn’t mean Beasley didn’t show flashes of greatness. He just consistently had problems with off-court issues overshadowing his abilities on the court. Whether this was problems with his coaches or marijuana-related incidents, Beasley was often in the news for the wrong reasons.
Now, he has somewhat revitalized his basketball career as a star of the Big3 League, where he has now won back-to-back MVP awards.
In a recent interview after winning a Big3 Championship with Miami 305, Beasley opened up about some of his early career mistakes.
He said that he regrets not listening to Pat Riley’s early advice to him when entering the league.
“ "Pat told me to get a condo for me and my mom. I got a 6-bedroom house, dogs, homies staying in… that’s where the problems came from.” „
Beasley continued to say that having these friends and distractions in his living space was a big reason he never reached his full potential as an NBA star.
That’s why Michael Beasley truly is an NBA “what if”. Had he listened to Riley, would we be talking about his NBA MVPs instead of his Big3 ones?
It's possible. Unfortunately, we will never know.
